Business Schools Attain 50% Increase in Minority Professors Over Five Years, The PhD... -- re>
CHICAGO, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ --

Business Schools Attain 50% Increase in Minority Professors Over Five Years, The PhD Project Reports
Number of Minority Business Professors is Projected to More Than Double

CHICAGO, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Business schools are making more progress
in adding minority professors to their faculties, The PhD Project reported
today.
Representation of African-Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic
Americans on business school faculties has risen 50% in the five years since
The PhD Project started in 1994 to attract and encourage more minorities to
become business professors. Minority faculty representation increased from
294 in 1994 to 440 in 1999.
And because 373 additional minorities are now earning doctorates to become
professors, the minority professor population will more than double from 1994
levels when the 373 complete their studies in 2004 or earlier, The PhD Project
said.
The increase in minority faculty was reported as The PhD Project holds its
annual conference for prospective new business doctoral students in Chicago.
The PhD Project is a partnership of universities, prominent corporations,
academic and professional organizations, and foundations. It aims to create
more minority professors by urging successful African-American, Hispanic-
American and Native American business executives to leave corporate jobs, and
study to become business school professors.
"Corporate America and the academic community have long wanted to have
more professors of color standing in front of business school classrooms,"
said Bernard J. Milano, executive director and trustee of the KPMG Foundation,
creator and lead sponsor of The PhD Project. "Now, after five years of our
actively recruiting and supporting future professors, diversity on the faculty
is becoming more of a reality."
"More minority faculty role models and mentors mean more minority students
will see business as a viable career option. By getting more people of color
into these highly influential teaching posts, The PhD Project adds incentive
for young minorities to study business and then work in corporate America,
helping to diversify it," Mr. Milano added.
The 1999 total of 440 minority business professors is a population that
took decades to amass, yet it still represents less than five percent of all
business faculty. The bulk of the five-year-old PhD Project's impact will be
felt in the years to come, as more of the 373 current doctoral students
complete the five-year path to a doctorate.
All 373 minorities now earning business doctorates participate in The PhD
Project's Doctoral Students Associations, whose members have a dropout rate of
less than 5 percent. It takes about five years for a student to complete a
program and earn the degree.
Doctoral students reported that their minority students have told them
they are considering business careers, or pursuing specific fields, because of
the impact of seeing a minority teacher of business at their school for the
first time. Other Ph.D. candidates said they had introduced topics relating
to diversity or ethnic marketing into the curriculum.
More than 400 minority executives are attending this year's conference,
Nov. 11-12, at the Hyatt O'Hare in Rosemont, IL to consider making the switch
from a successful career in corporate America to the scholarly life of a
business school professor. They will learn all about what it takes to enter
into a Ph.D. program: What is the process? What will it cost? What kind of
funding is available? What are the curriculum opportunities? What are the
benefits of earning a Ph.D.? Minority business professionals will also meet
with representatives of leading corporations, as well as more than 75 of the
nation's most prestigious business schools, to discuss the value of giving up
their corporate jobs and pursuing teaching careers at a business school. Many
of the corporate sponsors will see some of their own talented executives, who
are role models for future generations, leave their positions to pursue a
Ph.D.
Attendees will learn careers in academia are often viable, challenging and
rewarding-and a great opportunity to impact the lives of thousands of future
minority executives and business leaders. They will hear how earning a Ph.D.
doesn't always cost money -- typically tuition is waived and there are
stipends for research or teaching, while business school professors are
surprisingly well-paid -- earning as much as $100,000 a year.
The coalition of corporations and academic institutions that support The
PhD Project include: The KPMG Foundation, Graduate Management Admission
Council, The Citigroup Foundation, AACSB, Chrysler Corporation Fund, Ford
Motor Company, Institute of Management Accountants, James S. Kemper
Foundation, Abbott Laboratories, Fannie Mae Foundation, Merrill Lynch & Co.
Foundation, Inc., Texaco, AICPA, Robert K. Elliott, Joseph E. Seagram & Sons,
Inc., Mobil Corporation, State Street Corporation and Union Carbide Foundation
In addition, more than 75 colleges and universities contribute $1,500 each
year to the Project, and send representatives to its annual conference to
recruit prospective Ph.D. students. Total contributions approximate
$1.6 million per year. For more information call, 1-888-2GET-AphD or visit
The PhD Project web-site, http://www.phdproject.com.